The last time Harry Redknapp was involved in two-legged ties at the back end of a season, his opponents were first Milan and then Real Madrid. As the Queens Park Rangers manager's first taste of the play-offs was a forgettable, fractious affair, the Champions League and the Championship felt worlds apart, even if Redknapp, ever ready with a flippant one-liner, pretended to disagree.

"It's reminded me of when we went to the San Siro to play AC Milan except Joe [Jordan] didn't get nutted by [Gennaro] Gattuso," he said, recalling his Tottenham days and ensuring the post-match entertainment proved livelier than the fare on the pitch. Wigan looked jaded in their 61st game of a marathon campaign and this sterile stalemate served to suggest that Derby are the most vibrant team competing for the remaining spot in next season's Premier League.

Rangers and Wigan, whose three games this season have produced a solitary goal, reconvene on Monday. "The pressure is on QPR now," said Wigan's manager, Uwe Rösler. "They came for the draw and got it." Redknapp disagreed, insisting: "I picked a very open team. I picked two out-and-out wingers." Yet one is a left-back by trade, although Armand Traoré was the lone Ranger who threatened with a shot Scott Carson tipped wide.

Wigan were scarcely more potent. "We controlled the game," Rösler added. Opportunities were rarities, however. Jordi Gómez fashioned one with a fine piece of chest control and connected sweetly with a half-volley that Rob Green parried. After an hour, Rob Kiernan thumped the ball across the six-yard box and Marc-Antoine Fortuné stabbed his shot over the bar.

Kiernan was involved in the first flashpoint when Clint Hill appeared to elbow him. "A penalty," Rösler said. "The player admitted he caught him." The referee, Mike Jones, did not see it. Neither did Redknapp. "When you sit on that touchline, you have got the worst view in the whole ground," said the Rangers manager, who was equally unsighted when Junior Hoilett felt Gary Caldwell elbowed him.

The Scot was cautioned while mistimed tackles abounded. It scarcely calmed relations. The game of claim and counterclaim began in the buildup with Redknapp arguing that Wigan have the division's best squad and Rösler retorting that Rangers' wage bill is three times the size of his own.

That Rangers have underachieved grievously and expensively was confirmed when the anonymous Ravel Morrison was replaced. "He looked disappointed," said Redknapp. "I brought Niko Kranjcar on. He is not the worst player in the world. He's got 80 caps for Croatia. It's not an insult to come off for him."